Nay Pyi Taw April 21
A ceremony took place at Bayintnaung palour in Nay Pyi Taw this afternoon to honour the military medical doctors who served their duties at hospitals with shortages of medical doctors to help improve the health of local people in far-flung areas with poor transport in Sagaing Region, Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Zone. Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attended the ceremony and delivered an honorary speech.
Also present at the ceremony were the Senior General’s wife Daw Kyu Kyu Hla, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Commander-in-Chief (Army) Vice-Senior General Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe, Union Ministers Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, Lt-Gen Sein Win and Lt-Gen Ye Aung and their wives, Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) General Mya Tun Oo and wife, senior military officers from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief and their wives and military medical doctors who served their duties in far-away regions and their family members.
In his honorary speech, the Senior General said today’s ceremony was to honour Tatmadaw medical doctors who performed their duties in far-flung areas of their own volition. He said he accompanied President U Thein Sein of the previous government in a visit to Naga Traditional Festival in December 2015. At that time, the leading body chairman of Naga Self-Administered Zone reported about difficulties resulting from shortages of medical doctors at local hospitals. Therefore, Tatmadaw medical doctors who wanted to go there of their own accord were sent. A large number of doctors enlisted to go there and this is indicative of Tatmadawmen’s goodwill attitude towards our national races. The Ministry of Health was informed that appropriate Tatmadaw medical doctors would be chosen from those who offered to go there. As the ministry gladly accepted it, doctors were sent to all the townships and sub-townships in Naga Self-Administered Zone and some areas in Chin State. Ethnic people in those regions are found to have weaknesses in healthy living condition. Weak health is due to lack of knowledge, low income and transport difficulties. Only when they are healthy, they can do their jobs, pursue their education and promote the living standards. These regions are in need of better healthcare services. Like-wise, the Tatmadaw is sending mobile medical teams to necessary regions to provide healthcare services to locals as well as in the respective military headquarters. Doctors from the Tatmadaw could provide healthcare to nearly 200,000 locals in Chin State and Naga region. Between March, 2016 and April 6, 2018, the Tatmadaw provided healthcare to 199,925 locals—108,871 patients for medical treatments, 37,814 for surgery, 29,903 for child diseases, 8,841 for OG, 3,219 for orthopaedic disease, 1,737 for ear, nose and throat diseases, 2,499 for eye diseases, 1,849 for dental diseases and 5,192 for general diseases. This number is relatively low compared with the country’s whole population. But it is a big high percentage for the far-flung areas. The Tatmadaw’s duty is to fight, to undergo training if there is no fight and to perform the public works if there is no training. Military doctors served the public’s interests. They can perform training duty as experiences from medical treatments are invaluable practical lessons. The Senior General said he took pride as military doctors participated in teaching and regional development tasks in addition to healthcare services. Being healthy is a great luck for all human beings. Their undertakings are benevolent. People give blessings to them. The Tatmadaw will stand correctly for caring for the people, whoever says. The Senior General urged them to become the servicemen on whom the State can rely by continuously serving the interest of the Tatmadaw and the nation with self-control based on their experience.
Then, a medical officer, on behalf of the Tatmadaw medical doctors who discharged duty in the remote areas, recounted their experience in providing health care services and spoke words of thanks. He said that there were many differences from living standard, education and health sectors between those from the remote areas and major cities in providing health care services in Chin State and Naga region. He said that the Tatmadaw medical doctors took pride of grasping the opportunities to serve the people with medical profession at a time when State service personnel faced difficulties to discharge duty in the far-flung areas. They successfully performed health care services as the Tatmadaw occasionally provided necessary medicines and personal goods. Moreover, he added they gave a helping hand not only to development of the region but also to improvement of health sector as much as they can in line with the guidance of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services. He thanked the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and officials for fulfillments provided to them on their arriving from the duty.
Those present joined the tea party. During the tea party, the Myawady entertainment troupe under the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare performed songs and music. After the ceremony, the Senior General and party individually greeted the Tatmadaw medical doctors who were on duty at the far-flung areas. The Tatmadaw medical doctors who arrived back from Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Zone where they took out the two-year duty from 2016 to 2018 were assigned to respective units of the medical corps they wished to discharge duty.
